Stacking ingots and stack formed of same



Dec. 15, 1964 J. CHAMBRAN 3,161,477

STACKING INGOTS AND STACK FORMED 0F SAME Filed Oct. 15, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 66 2 4 INVENTOR.

Jacques Chambra Z Y M aizf ys Dec. 15, 1964 STACKING INGOTS AND STACK FORMED OF SAME Filed Oct. 15 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 2 2g? :1} 5.1? I" i 22b INVENTOR. Jacques C/zambra/z J. CHAMBRAN 3,161,477 i,

United States Patent 3,161,477 STACKlNG INGQTS AND STACK FORMED 0F SAME Jacques Chamhran, Surariege, France, assignor to Pechiney Compagnie de Produits Chimiques et Eleetrometailurgiqaes, Paris, France Filed (lot. 15, 1962, Ser. No. 236,565 Uairns priority, application France Oct. 18, 1961 13 Claims. (Cl. 229-184) This invention relates to ingots designedifor stacking and it relates more particularly to a form of ingot which can be stacked in a plurality ofglayers with a plurality of ingots in each layer to form a stable stacked relationship.

In the past, ingots have been molded with anchoring nipples in their narrow side walls for purposes of establishing an inter-fitting relation which enables the ingots to be stacked. Because of the greatest thickness of ingots cast of light metals, such as aluminum and magnesium or alloys thereof, the described method has been found to be impractical with ingots of such metals wherein a considerable taper is provided for ejection from the mold. Thekeying of each layer with adjacent layers becomes .only approximate, leaving an undesirable amount of play which makes mechanical stacking impractical or unsafe.

It is an object of this invention to produce ingots which enable one layer of a plurality of ingots to be positively keyed into adjacent layers whereby the ingots can be stacked to considerable height'without loss of stability due to play and which permit improved mechanical stacking to be achieved, and it is a related object to produce a metal ingot which can be cast in a simple and efiicicnt manner.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. 1 is a top plan View of an ingot embodying the features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the ingot shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the ingot shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of two layers of stacked ingots of the type shown in FIG. 1

FIG. 5 is a side elevational View from the direction A of the stack shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view from the direction B of the stack shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a top plan View of two layers of ingots of FIG. 1 stacked in an arrangement differing from that of F1614;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the stack shown in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is an end' elevational view of the stack shown in FIG. 7.

The ingots, which are all identical, are formed, in accordance with the practice of this invention, with six faces including top and bottom rectangular faces it) and 12, narrow end faces 14 and 16, and longer side faces 18 and 20, with one of the two faces 10 and 12 having at least one nipple and with the side faces having notches for receiving the nipple when the ingots in one layer are arranged crosswise of the ingots in adjacent layers. In stacking, the ingots are intended to be placed in each layer with ingots having their large faces in one direction alternating with ingots having their large faces in the opposite direction and preferably with the ingots arranged with five in each layer.

Referring now to FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings, each ingot is formed with one face 10 of smaller dimension than the opposite parallel face 12. Each ingot is formed 3,lfil,477 Patented Dec. 15, 1964 with anchoring nipples 22 extending upwardly from its narrow end faces 14 and i6 beyond the adjacent parallel face it). The nipples 22 are preferably in the form of extensions of the end faces 18 and 26. They are dimensioned to have a width less than the width of the adjacent face 16 or 12 and they are formed to curvilinear contour. In the preferred practice where a pair of nipples are employed to extend upwardly beyond the adjacent top or bottom face, the nipples are dimensioned to be spaced one from the other by an amount corresponding to the combined width of the ingots arranged in each layer.

The side faces 18 and 20 are formed with longitudinally spaced apart notches or recesses 24 and 26 of trapezoidal shape having their base of larger dimension adjacent the face lll of smaller dimension. The notches extend continuously from the face it! to the face 12. The taper from the top face to the bottom face, defining the inner wall 36 of said notches, is slightly less than the corresponding taper of the side faces 14 and 16 so that the notches will have a greater width at the bottom face portion than at the top. The side faces 14 and 16 are formed to a uniform taper between the top and bottom faces 10 and 12 so that the ingots will interfit one alongside the other when they are arranged in side by side relationship with the ingots having their larger faces lowermost alternating with ingots having their larger faces uppermost in the-row.

The notches 24 and 26 are dimensioned at their base of smaller length to have a length which is slightly greater than the width of the nipple 22 so as to enable the nipple of one ingot in one layer to extend into the notch of the vertically aligned ingot in adjacent layers.

The end of each ingot is formed with an outwardly extending bottom leg or handle 32 having a central notch 34 through which a strap is adapted to extend for binding the stack.

The ingots are adapted to be arranged in layers of five ingots to the layer, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 7 with the ingots having their large faces 12 lowermost alternating with ingots having their large faces 12 uppermost in each layer. The ingots in one layer are arranged crosswise of or perpendicular to the ingots in adjacent layers. It will be understood that layers having less than five or more than five ingots can be used.

In the arrangement shown in FIGS. 4-6, the ingots 40, 42 and 44, comprising the first, third and fifth ingot in the bottom layer, are arranged with their large faces 12 lowermost while the intermediate ingots 46 and 48, constituting the second and fourth ingots in the layer, are arranged with their smaller faces 16 lowermost and with their larger faces 12 uppermost thereby to interfit the adjacent inclined side faces to form a solid, compact layer. In the second layer, in which the ingots are arranged crosswise of the ingots in the first layer, the first, third and fifth ingots 5t 52 and 54 are arranged with their smaller faces 1t) lowermost while the ingots 56 and 58 in between are arranged with their smaller faces upper- 1 most. In the third layer, the ingots would be arranged as in the first layer.

In the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 79, the first, third and fifth ingots 66, 62 and 64 of the first layer are positioned with their faces 10 of smaller dimension lowermost while the ingots 66 and 68 in between are positioned with their larger faces 12 uppermost to provide the desired interfitting relationship. In the second layer, the first, third and fifth ingots 7d, 72 and 74 are arranged with their larger faces 12 lowermost while the ingots '76 and '78 in between have their larger faces uppermost.

In the described arrangement, it will be noted that the combined width of the five ingots aligned in side by side relation will substantially correspond to the distance between the nipples 22 of the underlying ingots 66 and B3 68 so that he nipples will extend into the narrow base of the notches 24 and 26 to hold the ingots in the stacked relationship.

In each layer, the downwardly directed nipples, such as the nipple 22. in FIG. 6, confront the side faces of the ingot below without engagement of the notches while the upwardly extending nipple 22 as in FIG. 7, will be receivexl for anchorage in the notches 24 and 26 of the ingot directly above. These conditions are achieved when the following characteristics prevail:

0 corresponds to the length of the ingot between the pair of nipples 22;

B is the width of the large face 12;

b is the width of the small face 1%;

d is the taper, such that 2d=B-b.

A symmetrical layer where the n ingots have their large faces lowermost comprises n ingots resting on their large faces and (n-1) ingots resting on their small faces.

In order to key a layer where the n ingots have their large faces uppermost, as in FIG. 4, on a layer where n ingots have their large faces lowermost, it is necessary for: I

In order to key onto the preceding layer, a layer having the n ingots with their large faces uppermost, it is necessary for:

These conditions are achieved when the ingot bodies and their anchoring elements are formed with notches reducing the width of the ingot by:

If a layer with the large faces of the n ingots lowermost is placed on a layer with the large faces of the n ingots uppermost, notches will be found to reduce each side of the large face by the taper d in the same places and (11-1) notches should be provided if the position of the larger faces of the n ingots is reversed in stacking the layers. On the other hand, it notches should be provided if identical layers are stacked.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the details of construction, arrangement and operation, Without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A symmetrical ingot comprising two parallel rectangular upper and lower faces joined by four lateral faces arranged in symmetrical pairs of different dimension, one of the rectangular parallel faces having at least one nipple and the larger of the lateral faces having notches dimensioned to receive the nipple.

2. An ingot as claimed in claim 1 in which the two rectangular parallel upper and lower faces are formed to different dimension with one face being of smaller dimension than the other.

3. An ingot as claimed in claim 1 in which the pair of larger lateral faces are tapered inwardly from the parallel face of the larger dimension to the parallel face of smaller dimension.

4. An ingot as claimed in claim 1 in which the nipple extends upwardly from one of the parallel rectangular faces.

5. An ingot as claimed in claim 1 which includes an extension from theend faces.

6. An ingot as claimed in claim 5 which includes a notch in an intermediate portion of each of the end extensions.

7. An ingot as claimed in claim 1 in which the notches in the side faces are of trapezoidal shape.

8. An ingot as claimed in claim 7 in which the notches of trapezoidal shape are spaced longitudinally in an intermediate portion of the side faces.

9. An ingot as claimed in claim 7, in which the notches are formed with a taper at their inner walls which is less than the taper of the side faces to provide a greater width of notch at one end by comparison to the other.

10. An ingot as claimed in claim 7, in which the notch at its smallest length is greater than the width of the nipple.

11. A stacked layer of ingots claimed in claim 1 with the ingots in one layer arranged crosswise of the ingots in adjacent layers, with each layer comprising n ingots arranged with the larger face in one direction and (11-1) ingots arranged with the larger face in the opposite direction, the n ingots of consecutive layers being reversed in relation to one another, and with the side faces of larger dimension having (n-l) notches of a depth equal to the taper of the side walls of the ignot.

12. A stacked layer of ingots claimed in claim 1 with the ingots in one layer arranged crosswise of ingots in adjacent layers, each layer comprising 11 ingots arranged with their face of large dimension in one direction and (:z1) ingots arranged in the reverse direction with the ingots in consecutive layers being identical in arrangement and having their longer side faces provided with n notches of a depth equal to the taper of the ingot.

13. An ingot as claimed in claim 2 including a pair of said nipples wherein e corresponds to the length of an ingot between said nipples, and wherein a group of said lngots are adapted to be stacked in layers which include 11 ingots having their large faces uppermost, said layers alternating with layers having n ingots with their large faces lowermost, and wherein B comprising the width of the large face and b comprising the width of the small face of said ingot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,017,042 Bertram et a1 Jan. 16, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 840,491 Great Britain July 6, 1960 

1. A SYMMETRICAL INGOT COMPRISING TWO PARALLEL RECTANGULAR UPPER AND LOWER FACES JOINED BY FOUR LATERAL FACES ARRANGED IN SYMMETRICAL PAIRS OF DIFFERENT DIMENSION, ONE OF THE RECTANGULAR PARALLEL FACES HAVING AT LEAST ONE NIPPLE AND THE LARGER OF THE LATERAL FACES HAVING NOTCHES DIMENSIONED TO RECEIVE THE NIPPLE.
 11. A STACKED LAYER OF INGOTS CLAIMED IN CLAIM 1 WITH THE INGOTS IN ONE LAYER ARRAANGED CROSSWISE OF THE INGOTS IN ADJACENT LAYERS, WITH EACH LAYER COMPRISING N INGOTS ARRANGED WITH THE LARGER FACE IN ONE DIRECTION AND (N-1) INGOTS ARRANGED WITH THE LARGER FACE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, THE N INGOTS OF CONSECUTIVE LAYERS BEING REVERSED IN RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER, AND WITH THE SIDE FACES OF LARGER DIMENSION HAVING (N-1) NOTCHES OF A DEPTH EQUAL TO THE TAPER OF THE SIDE WALLS OF THE INGOT. 